Retina Specialty Institute

While many may claim to stand apart from their peers, the Retina Specialty Institute (RSI) brings superb expertise, experience, and compassionate care.

“We started in The Villages in the spring of 2013 and since that time, we have grown quite nicely,” says Dr. Shalesh Kaushal, a vitreoretinal specialist with RSI. “We have been working diligently to create awareness in the area about retinal diseases, as well as maintain the highest level of care that our patients have come to expect and appreciate. That’s my passion.”

A visit to RSI means being in the hands of knowledgeable professionals who care about your eye health and overall wellbeing. The level of medical information shared empowers patients to take charge of their health care decisions. In addition to educating patients, the team at RSI works to maintain a comfortable, welcoming, and thoughtful experience from beginning to end during every office visit.

“For example, in most retina practices, people have grown accustom to waiting two to three hours before they can see the doctor,” says Dr. Kaushal. “At our office, we have substantially shortened that wait time, and that is something our patients value.”

Meeting patient’s needs and top-notch customer service are the highest priority at RSI; however, this thriving practice places even greater emphasis on having only the finest and most highly experienced medical professionals in their field. For example, Dr. Kaushal obtained his undergraduate education at Yale University and subsequently earned his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in biochemistry with the Nobel Laureate Dr. Har Gobind Khorana. He completed his ophthalmology training at USC/ Doheny Eye Institute. He then completed two retina fellowships, one at Barnes Retina Institute in St. Louis and the other at Moorefields Eye Hospital in London.

Motivated by a desire to help patients and their families through every step and stage of their vision journey, RSI continues to play a key role in furthering medical advances to give patients access to the most advanced retinal care. As an avid researcher, Dr. Kaushal has participated in numerous clinical trials involving revolutionary breakthroughs in retina care such as gene therapy, stem cell treatment, and new drugs. He was one of three surgeons in the world to perform retinal gene therapy and was the first person in the world to use two other drugs for retinal diseases. He’s already working on bringing novel, cutting-edge clinical trials to The Villages and Florida.

RSI is making strides to treat many conditions that can lead to blindness by collaborating with Intelligent Retinal Imaging Systems

(IRIS) and the Lions Clubs International to help screen for retinal diseases like age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. In less than 10 minutes, IRIS’ low-cost, non-invasive technology can detect early signs of retinal diseases. For the first time in the country, two screenings were recently performed — one in The Villages and one in Citrus County — and yielded great results.

“It’s quite remarkable. Using this automated camera system, we were able to pick up on very early diabetes-related retinal changes, as well as other pathologies such as scar tissue on the retina and glaucoma,” says Dr. Kaushal. “In bringing this kind of innovative technology to The Villages, we can help educate patients and also manage their conditions. We’re dedicated to doing what we believe is in our patients’ best interest.”

The best is what RSI strives for every day by offering state-ofthe-art clinical and surgical procedures for patients suffering from eye diseases such as macular degeneration, as well as conditions brought about by illnesses in the body. “Nearly every disease manifests itself in the eye,” explains Dr. Kaushal. “For example, cardiovascular diseases can cause changes in the vascular system. This can be directly visualized in the blood vessels of the retina. Nutrition and genetics can also play a key role in the health of our eyes. In a real sense, the retina reflects the overall condition of the body.”

As a result, Dr. Kaushal makes it a point to hold talks throughout The Villages and surrounding areas as a way to help educate and raise awareness in the public about the importance of overall health and eye health.

Personally and professionally, Dr. Kaushal finds the retina to be a fascinating part of the body, and he understands how important sight is to living a healthy lifestyle. “It’s always been a passion of mine, along with helping people,” he says. “As much as I intensely enjoy taking care of people, I’ve come to appreciate how important it is to provide meaningful, up-to-date medical information to patients. This motivates me immensely and is central to the service my team and I give to our patients.”

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